


Summer Storm

by Blacklace



Series: Mornings and Coffees [3]
Category: Hockey RPF
Genre: Cuddling & Snuggling, Fluff, Inspired by a Movie, Kissing, M/M, Miscommunication, Summer, but they are in love so leave them, partly anyway, they are idiots okay
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-16
Updated: 2017-08-16
Packaged: 2018-12-16 03:48:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,526
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11820606
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Blacklace/pseuds/Blacklace
Summary: The way they left things in Colorado was weird and Mikko felt scraped raw by the emotions mixing in him. Somewhere along the way their casual sex stopped being so casual and they never talked about it, which hurt.Can be read as a stand-alone.





	Summer Storm

**Author's Note:**

  * For [knoxoursavior](https://archiveofourown.org/users/knoxoursavior/gifts).



> This is mainly for Lauren who helped me suggest the main scenery of this fic ❤ It's also kind of inspired by two movies that I completely fell in love with this summer - Jongens (2014) and Sommersturm (2004).
> 
> With that being said, please enjoy another chapter in the lives of Mikko and Gabe and how they both kinda fail at navigating their relationship.
> 
> not beta'd, title taken from the movie Sommersturm (2004)
> 
> p.s.: i'd totally recommend listening to [this](https://youtu.be/LUVDUQ6Je1M) song because it's exactly the mood i tried to express here (and probably failed but whatever)

“For the last time, Mikko, you are not taking Bob with you,” his sister crosses her arms and Bob, the traitor, sits by her leg and wags his stupid tail.

Mikko kicks at his suitcase. “Not fair! How come you get to take Bob to the summer house and I don’t?”

She laughs at him and ruffles his hair. “Because I don’t use Bob as a diversion from my problems.” Mikko doesn’t answer her, instead folds his arms across his chest and sulks. His sister sighs. “Come on, you’ll do fine. It’s about time the two of you talk.”

 

* * *

 

Mikko avoids thinking while he drives to the cabin like the devil avoids holy grounds. What good has thinking done to him in the past month anyway? It only brought a bitter taste on his tongue and a heartache that nothing could soothe.

He drives to the asshole of nowhere in Sweden and at least Mikko gets to be annoyed over the fact that he has to drive all the way to fucking Sweden. He’s not above being petty when it comes to Sweden. National pride always comes first when it gets down to either of their neighboring countries.

Not that it’s an actual hardship for Mikko to drive all the way up to Uppsala län. Not when he spends ten hours of his total tvelve-hour-and-something drive on a ferry, sleeping in a nice, clean cabin. He doesn’t think about much, just tries to shut his brain off and rest. He’ll have two hours to think in the car tomorrow.

 

* * *

****

The next day in the car Mikko turns on the GPS and zones out. He drives through Stockholm up on the E4 to Uppsala and then still further northwest, mind and heart racing as he approaches his final destination.

Mikko was actually looking forward to seeing Gabe again throughout the summer, even if they didn’t end things well in Colorado. When Gabe had texted him over a month ago and offered that they could spend a week in his parents’ summer house, Mikko was sold. Well, he was already sold on the first mention of the word “together”, if he’s being honest with himself. But that’s beside the point. Point is he’d jump on any opportunity to see Gabe, albeit for only five minutes because that's how much he's been missing the motherfucker.

So Mikko keeps driving and thinking at the same time and as one would expect he gets lost.

He turns off the GPS after the fifth time it tells him to turn right in fifty meters and there is no fucking turn in sight. He nearly throws the thing out of the window, too. At least he’s supposed to be very close to the destination now.

He stops at the nearest rest area and sits in his car for a while, head pressed against the steering wheel while taking deep breaths in. Defeated, he picks up his phone and dials Gabe.

He doesn’t think about how it’s the first time in almost a month he’s going to hear his voice again.

“Yeah?” Gabe picks up on the fourth ring, sounding out of breath.

“Hey, so I’m kinda here, but I got lost?” Mikko gets out of the car and takes in his surroundings. He’s been driving in circles for the past half an hour and he’s beyond annoyed.

Gabe pants into the phone some more. “Where are you?”

“If I knew that, I wouldn’t be calling you,” he snaps but immediately feels like a jerk for being so harsh, so he follows with: “It’s been a long day, sorry.”

“It’s fine, I get it,” Gabe pants some more and it just sound off putting. “Just describe where you ended? Or do you know how far you could be from my place?” there is more grunting and Mikko feels like he probably called at the wrong time.

“Dude, if you are busy with something, I can call later.”

“I went for a run, Mikko, chill,” Gabe laughs. “So? Where are you?”

Mikko describes the place he ended up at as best as he can. It doesn’t look like much, just another non-descript area in wooded Sweden. He can at least see a sign pointing to a nearby camping site and hopes it’s the only one miles wide.

“Can you wait like twenty minutes? I’ll get you.”

So Mikko does because what other choice does he have, really. He sits on the hood of his car and wishes he had something better to do than wait in the middle of nowhere alone with his thoughts.

There’s a reason why he hasn’t spoken to Gabe in almost a month. The way they left things in Colorado was weird and Mikko felt scraped raw by the emotions mixing in him. Somewhere along the way their casual sex stopped being so casual and they never talked about it, which hurt.

Mikko longed for intimacy and closeness in their relationship. Missed the mad cuddling sessions they used to have after tough losses and the way Gabe would play with his hair and hum softly next to him until they both fell asleep. As the season progressed to its end the level of intimacy between them slowly thinned out and it made Mikko miserable. He spent the last month of the season glowering and sulking, missing Gabe like crazy but also not knowing how to fix it and approach Gabe without making himself look too clingy.

And while he worried about being clingy and scaring Gabe off they drifted apart until there was nothing between them but void.

So when Gabe texted him at the beginning of summer if Mikko wanted to hang out, Mikko’s initial response was hesitant. He was hurting, still licking the fresh wounds and wondering if they fucked up their own happiness and team chemistry for good. But he also missed Gabe.

Before he could think better of it he typed out _yes_ and hit the send button. Self-preservation was never Mikko’s strong suit. Besides, he didn’t think he could take on the whole summer without seeing Gabe at least once.

So that leaves him here, in a forest in the middle of nowhere with nervous butterflies battering around in his belly and his heart beating a little too fast in his chest. This would make his top five nervous moments list probably. Including the draft day, his first kiss and his first NHL game.

Mikko avoids making scenarios in his head about what it’s going to be like when he sees Gabe again in couple minutes. With how uncertain and cold they left things it’s for the better anyway. He can’t expect warm hugs and sweet kisses just because he made the effort and met Gabe halfway.

That is if this even meant meeting him halfway.

He sees Gabe about ten minutes later, emerging from a nearby forest trail. Sweaty, flushed and with a big goofy smile on his face. The sun is kissing his golden hair and skin like it’s some sort of coming-of-age movie that Mikko would buy a ticket to. The frat tank top Gabe wears clings to his torso and Gabe could as well be running around shirtless. Luckily for Mikko’s sanity he doesn’t.

Mikko gets down from the car hood and his knees feel weak, probably because the butterflies in his stomach decided to go havoc and flew to every extremity. He leans back against the car just to be sure he doesn’t fall over himself and hopes he has enough composure to look at least little bit cool.

“Hi,” Gabe beams and squeezes him in a bear hug without waiting for a reply.

Mikko can’t help the laugh that bubbles up from his throat. The happiness that surges up to the surface makes his head spin in the best ways. It’s good. It’s all good. “You’re gross!” he giggles, but wraps his arms around Gabe as well and presses close.

Their hug is sticky and smells weird but neither lets go. They just stand there in the middle of a forest road, hidden from the outside world, kept in silence. Mikko thinks he’s not the only one who missed this.

When they do let each other go, it’s followed by an awkward silence. Mikko has never had a problem being quiet around Gabe, never like this, but seeing him after so long, so close to home, it’s just different.

Gabe is the first to break the quiet. “I’m glad you’re here.”

Mikko smiles and his shoulders relax. “Yeah, me too.” He touches Gabe’s forearm briefly. It’s there on the tip of his tongue, three words he wanted to tell him every day of the past month. _I missed you_. Instead he goes to the driver’s side of the car. “Show me the way?” he gives Gabe what he hopes is a friendly smile and gets inside.

It turns out there was an exit, just not on the right but on the left, sort of hidden by bushes and then it’s not exactly a road, either. They both laugh when Mikko hits a particularly large bump on the way. It’s probably going to cost him new shock absorbers, but it’s well worth the way Gabe laughs like a little kid next to him.

“I’ll take a shower first, if you don’t mind?” Gabe carries his suitcase up the stairs and into one of the rooms.

Mikko looks around, feeling out of place. “Yeah, sure.”

He watches Gabe disappear and wonders if it’s some sort of invitation when Gabe throws his tank top on the floor on his way to the bathroom.

Mikko doesn’t do anything about it just to be safe and instead starts unpacking for the lack of things to do. The room Gabe put his suitcase in is well lived-in with a king-sized bed where one side of the sheets is rumpled and unmade. It warms something in Mikko’s guts when he realizes Gabe wants them to sleep in the same room.

When Mikko came here he was half-expecting the cold shoulder Gabe kept giving him back in Denver. But seeing as Gabe put his things in his own bedroom he couldn’t help but think there won’t be such thing as a cold shoulder anymore. Right?

Gabe is out of the shower before Mikko can unpack all of his suitcase. He’s dripping everywhere with just a towel around his waist that looks like it’s going to fall down any moment. Mikko stares helplessly at Gabe’s body and his glistening abs and he’s just a human, give him a break.

Gabe gives him this knowing look when he catches him staring and Mikko looks away with a blush creeping up his neck.

“So, I was thinking,” Gabe drops the towel and casually puts on white boxers that absorb whatever leftover water the towel didn’t get and become almost transparent in the process. They leave _nothing_ to the imagination, except maybe for how gorgeous Gabe would be _without_ them.

There’s sudden silence and Mikko realizes Gabe has probably said something and now expects him to answer.

“Huh?”

Gabe laughs and pulls a clean tank top over his head. It’s the same frat-looking thing like before and Mikko idly wonders if Gabe’s been binging Letterkenny again.

Gabe gives him this look, like he knows what’s running through Mikko’s head and pulls on a pair of shorts that definitely aren’t his.

“Hey, are those girl’s shorts?” Mikko points at his crotch.

Gabe winks at him and walks out the bedroom, shaking his ass for emphasis. “We could go on the lake and fish us something for lunch?” he suggests from the hallway and completely ignores the part where he’s wearing girl’s shorts. They’re probably his sister’s anyway. And they look damn fine on his ass, too.

“Sounds good,” Mikko calls after him.

 

* * *

 

The lake is silent and Mikko starts dozing off after the first twenty minutes of sitting and lazing around on the deck of Gabe’s boat. He’s warm and relaxed and most importantly with Gabe.

Gabe’s quiet confidence puts Mikko into ease, despite how things are still weird between them. Somehow it feels like Mikko dreamed all the bad stuff up. It’s hard to believe there are mixed feelings and bleeding emotions when all he can feel now is immense warmth and contentment. It’s so easy to forgive Gabe now that he’s here with him and Mikko can’t feel the pain or loneliness anymore. It’s so easy to get lost in the blue of his eyes and the depth of the lake. So easy to stop thinking and just be.

“Are you asleep?” Gabe asks, voice low.

Mikko makes a noise in response, too lazy to form words.

He hears Gabe chuckle and putter around. There are shadows moving over his face and he feels the boat rock gently as Gabe sits down next to him.

“We’re gonna starve at this rate,” Mikko comments, eyes still closed.

Gabe shoves at him. “Shut up, it takes a while. You need to earn the fishes’ trust first.”

“You’re full of shit, Landy.”

 

* * *

 

They do catch some fish in the lake and Mikko gladly leaves Gabe to the gutting and other dirty stuff. They cook together, dance around each other, really, while simultaneously avoiding touching each other. Mikko tries not to think too hard, it’s useless anyway when he’s hungry.

“It’s still so bright outside,” Mikko comments when they are washing the dishes and it’s getting kinda late.

Gabe flicks him with a dish towel. “What did you think? That Sweden doesn’t get as much sunlight as Finland?”

“Shut up,” Mikko splashes water at him and starts a war. There’s a whole lot of laughing and splashing, soap suds flying in all directions, soon joined by the scrubbing sponge and other stuff in their immediate vicinity.

Mikko loses this time. Ends up pinned against the counter while they both pant their fight out. Gabe is pressed chest to knees against him, solid and warm and excited. A spark of electricity runs through Mikko and he remembers that he _wants_. He can feel Gabe’s frantic heartbeat where they are touching and he smells so good, like summer and oriental spices and…

He looks in his eyes and almost leans in for a kiss when suddenly Gabe pulls away.

“We could, uh, go for a swim?” Gabe scratches the light stubble on his chin. “You know, since it’s still so bright?”

Mikko opens his mouth and then closes it. He’s suddenly tired, his shoulders sag under the weight of the day. He thought he had Gabe figured out, but apparently he hadn’t. “Yeah, fine,” he says, not meeting Gabe’s eyes.

“Hey, if you don’t want to,” Gabe steps closer and reaches out, then retreats his hand back quickly.

“No, no,” Mikko rushes to say. “It’s fine, I’d love to see the sunset or whatever,” he forces a smile and hopes it’s enough to convince Gabe he’s into it.

He’s really not into it, but they’re about to spend a whole week together and Mikko doesn’t want to be the one to set a shitty mood right away.

They change into their swim trunks and walk to the lake in silence. Gabe takes the Frisbee and Mikko carries towels. He tries to shake the bad mood, feeling how it hangs above them like a dark cloud, causing a tense mood, but with little to no avail.

“Race you to the water,” Gabe yells out of nowhere and starts running, laughing like a maniac.

“Wait!” Mikko shouts after him. “That’s not fair!” he tries to catch up with him while simultaneously taking his shirt off and throwing his flip flops away, but he loses miserably anyway.

They run into the lake with water splashing everywhere and immediately start a play-fight, taking turns in drowning each other. Mikko doesn’t realize how hard he’s laughing until his ribs hurt and it stings to take a breath in. He wipes the water away from his face and pushes off the hair sticking to his forehead. He watches Gabe do the same and thinks that they can work it out. However bad they screwed up before it never changed the way they can have fun and just be alone with each other.

They try to play Frisbee for a while before they discover a fallen tree log in the lake and decide to explore that instead. Gabe tries to sit on it but ends up upside down in the water while Mikko laughs at him.

“It’s harder than I remember,” Gabe tries to defend his pride and shakes off the water from his hair, splashing Mikko.

“That’s because you weren’t two hundred pounds as a kid,” Mikko shoves at his shoulder and tries to sit on the log himself.

Gabe pushes him like a total brat and Mikko ends up in pretty much the same position Gabe did just few seconds ago.

In the end they use the log as a floatie, resting their arms over it while lazily kicking with their legs to move around. The sun reaches the horizon inch by inch and its sunrays are less and less warm on Mikko’s skin. He rests his chin on his arms and just listens for a moment. They are both panting from the physical excertion, the wildlife around them buzzes and rustles, loud and almost deafening. Mikko forgot how loud can nature be. But it still isn’t enough to overpower his own thoughts.

He sees movement in his peripheral vision and Gabe can’t be up to any good.

“What?” he asks without turning to look at Gabe. From the corner of his eye he can see Gabe is already looking at him, chin propped on his folded arms. The sun makes his hair look almost golden, probably. And Mikko can’t look, he can’t let himself fall for this again. Not so soon.

Gabe huffs out a quiet laugh. “Nothing,” he answers in a voice that’s barely audible.

So Mikko lets him.

He’s painfully aware of the gaze, of the way Gabe keeps his eyes trained on him while Mikko looks at the sunset. It makes his insides twists almost painfully, strange warmth fills his belly and his heart beat picks up.

What if he looks over? What if he dares to turn his head? What’s he going to see there anyway? Besides Gabe looking all gorgeous and irresistible with his soft, pink lips that are probably parted and so, so kissable. He’s scared he’ll see Gabe’s face open and raw with feelings and that they will mirror Mikko’s own.

And Mikko has to hold it together, keep some of his dignity, at least.

It feels like hours, the silence stretches and Mikko starts to feel cold in the still water. He almost opens his mouth to say something, but Gabe beats him to it. He reaches out with one hand, almost hesitant, and grabs Mikko by the shoulder, gently turning him. Gabe’s face is vulnerable and Mikko can see the storm of emotions there. They are mirroring his own. The hurt, the longing and the misery that Mikko’s heart is filled with are right there in front of him and it hurts to see how broken Gabe looks with all these emotions on display. He can see that little tell-tale crease between Gabe’s brows from too much thinking and wants to smooth it out with his own fingers.

Gabe is the first one to move, though. He strokes Mikko’s cheek with the back of his fingers and Mikko leans into the touch, chases it, really. Gabe’s fingers stop on his neck where he rests his hand, thumb gently caressing the skin of his jaw. They have a moment where they look into each other’s eyes and Mikko’s head spins. He feels like he’s standing on the edge of a vast abyss, dizzy with nausea and vertigo. He wants to fall over.

“I’m so sorry, Mikko.”

Mikko breathes out, shaking all over and overwhelmed in the best of ways. He doesn’t get a chance to breathe in again, though. Gabe presses close and captures his lips in a chaste kiss. A kiss that explodes like fireworks. Mikko kisses back, his hands finding Gabe, desperate to touch, grab, hold, just to know this is real. Gabe doesn’t expect Mikko to move with such a vigor. His hand slips on the log and they both end up under water.

When they surface again, they’re both laughing and coughing up water like the idiots they are.

Gabe nods his head towards the shore and Mikko follows him to where the water is shallower. As soon as their feet find ground, their hands are back all over each other, wandering and memorizing every inch.

Mikko is shaking all over and clutches on Gabe’s shoulders because his knees tremble. It has to be him who gasps into the kiss but he can’t be sure. He can’t focus past Gabe, past the heat and the longing. The constant chant in his head that says _I love you, I love you, I love you_ , but isn’t allowed to say it so Mikko tries to translate it into his kisses and touches and hopes that Gabe gets it.

And Gabe seems to understand him because he holds Mikko closer and tighter and his kisses get longer and gentler. Their lips slow down to a lazy dance, fingers caress instead of grip and Mikko melts.

Eventually, they press their foreheads together and just breathe. “I missed you,” Mikko admits, his lips feeling heavy when they form words. “I missed this.”

Gabe takes in a shaky breath. He strokes his thumb over Mikko’s cheekbone and looks up into his eyes. “I know,” Gabe whispers. “I missed you too.”

It might be just in Mikko’s head but he thinks Gabe’s voice wavered a little at the end. His stomach hurts from the thought that Gabe is going through the same thing as him. “We’re idiots,” he says.

“Yeah, we are.”

A wind picks up and Mikko shivers, realizing that the sun is long gone and they are both freezing. “Dry up first?”

Gabe nods and when they walk out of the lake Mikko sees a genuine, tiny smile on his face, one he knows he wants to see there for the rest of their days.

They change into warmer clothes and start a fire when it gets too cold, neither of them feeling like going back inside. Gabe brings a six-pack and steaks to grill while Mikko snatches a thick blanket they can lie on and cuddle. As soon as they get close together the beer and food are both forgotten. Gabe presses a tiny kiss on Mikko’s nose and pulls the hood over his head, giggling.

Mikko does the same thing to him and they end up doing eskimo kisses while giggling like they are six again.

Gabe cuddles into Mikko’s chest when their laughter dies and lets out a content sigh. Mikko wraps his arms around Gabe and hides him in his embrace, doesn’t ever want to do anything else. A tiny voice at the back of his head keeps teeling him he should’ve done this sooner. Back in Denver when things were shitty and they were getting one L after the other and Gabe pushed him away, maybe all he needed was to be held like this and feel safe for a change. Mikko suddenly feels like a jackass and holds Gabe all the tighter for that and buries his face in his hair.

They lay there for a while under the starry sky, but eventually it’s Mikko whose stomach starts grumbling, so they get up and grill the steaks. It’s quiet and this time it’s the nice kind of quiet, the one Mikko remembers from before when they haven’t fucked everything up.

Later they cuddle on the ancient coach in the living room where mosquitos don’t bother them and the fireplace keeps everything cozy and warm. Mikko lies on his back on the couch with Gabe on top of him,making himself comfortable between his legs and on his chest. Mikko likes this position, mainly because he get to hold all of Gabe and also because this way ke can kiss the top of Gabe’s head and watch him scrunch his pretty nose when he does so.

Gabe rests his head on Mikko’s chest, hands clutching on his hoodie and Mikko suspects he’s listening to his heartbeat. He plays with Gabe’s hair as something warm unfurls inside him, watches as Gabe slowly closes his eyes and his hands ease.

Mikko starts drifting off after a while and is only woken up when Gabe starts tracing patterns on his arm. Mikko reaches out with his own hand and links their fingers together, brushing his thumb gently against Gabe’s.

All that matters now is them. Being together, warm and safe and alone, free to express how they feel, not chased by the pressure of their jobs and shitty losses. He smiles down at Gabe and hopes that he feels the same.

“Promise we’ll always talk about our problems from now on?” Gabe asks weakly and Mikko has to strain to really hear the words.

Mikko brings their joined hands to his lips and kisses the back of Gabe’s hand. “Promise.” Then he leans down to kiss Gabe, slow and chaste before brushing their noses together. “I don’t want to feel like I’m losing you again.”

“Me neither,” Gabe whispers and hides his face in Mikko’s neck. “I like you way too much for that.”

Warmth blooms in Mikko’s belly, intense like a fire but still gentle enough that it makes him all giddy. He holds Gabe impossibly tighter. “I like you, too.”

They cuddle like that for a while and just before Mikko’s eyes start to get heavy again, Gabe stirs on top of him and props his chin on Mikko’s chest so he can look into his eyes.

“What?” Mikko asks, already amused because Gabe looks ridiculously endearing with his hair floofed out and covered by a hoodie.

“I just realized we’re a perfect stereotype,” Gabe says.

“How come?”

“Well,” Gabe traces a finger over Mikko’s neck down his chest and then rests his chin on top of that hand. “We’re both blond, both Scandinavian, both tall, gorgeous and play hockey. A goddamn stereotype.”

Mikko laughs at that because yeah, they kind of are a stereotype for their countries.

“You’re an idiot,” he says. And then, “We’ll make beautiful children, though,” Mikko cups Gabe’s face and they both giggle at the stupidity of that before Gabe hoists himself up and shuts Mikko up with his mouth. The kiss gets heated rather fast and soon Mikko has Gabe’s teeth sunk in his neck and wants more.

Then Gabe scrambles off the couch and tugs on Mikko’s sleeve.

“Where are you dragging me? This was nice,” Mikko whines, but lets Gabe lead the way anyway.

“Bedroom, duh,” Gabe rolls his eyes. “We should start making those beautiful babies.”

Mikko almost doesn’t sleep with him just for that lame comment. Except he totally does.

**Author's Note:**

> let me guys know what you think ❤  
> you can hit me up [here](https://tangercookie.tumblr.com/) :)


End file.
